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Summary
- Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8), and placed the source of impurity in the heart (Matthew 15:19).
- The Catechism of the Catholic Church names three areas of purity of heart: charity, chastity or sexual rectitude, and love of truth and orthodoxy of faith (paragraph 2518).
- The Collect for Purity, “Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit,” is said in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer’s Holy Communion and also appears in the 1888 Catholic Manual of Prayers.
- The 1888 Manual of Prayers includes a prayer “Against Lust” that quotes Psalm 51:10, “Create in me a clean heart, O God.”
- Thirteen short prayers cover thoughts, eyes and screens, listening, speech, temptation, falling, dating, marriage, young people, a promise to wait for marriage, desires, the body and lifelong holiness.
- Confession to a priest, confession to a trusted friend (James 5:16), phone filters and counseling can go alongside prayer.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (1611), text of Project Gutenberg eBook no. 10 (Job 31:1; Psalm 24:3–4; 37:4; 51:10; 119:9, 37; 141:3; Matthew 5:8; 6:13; 15:19; 1 Corinthians 6:19–20; 10:13; Philippians 4:8; 1 Thessalonians 4:3; 2 Timothy 2:22; Hebrews 12:1; 13:4; James 5:16; 1 John 1:9). https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10
- The Book of Common Prayer (Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A.), Standard Book of 1928. The Order for the Administration of the Lord’s Supper or Holy Communion, the Collect for Purity, p. 67. PDF facsimile: https://www.artisticdailyprayers.org/uploads/3/0/1/6/30164961/bcp1928std.pdf
- A Manual of Prayers for the Use of the Catholic Laity, prepared and published by order of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore. New York: Catholic Publication Society, 1888. Occasional Prayers, “Against Evil Thoughts” and “For the gift of Continence,” p. 168; Thanksgiving after Confession, “Against Lust,” p. 296; Devotions for Holy Communion, pp. 310–311. https://archive.org/details/AManualOfPrayers1888
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997. Paragraphs 1456–1457, https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P4D.HTM ; paragraphs 2518–2519, https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P8Q.HTM
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